Christ on the Cross between the two malefactors. The malefactor on the left hand mocks at Christ: “If thou wilt be God, help thyself and us!” The malefactor on the right says that the other ought not to speak thus, for both had merited their fate of crucifixion, the just award of their deeds; whereas He was innocent and yet had to experience the same fate. And the malefactor on the right went on to say: “Think of me when thou art in thy kingdom.” And Christ answered him: “Verily I say unto thee, today thou shalt be with me in Paradise.”

The Cross to the left, representing Ahriman, is the Pillar of Severity or Form, the right Cross, representing Lucifer, is the Pillar of Mercy or Force, and the Middle Cross, Christ, is The Pillar of Mildness or Consciousness.

If one begins to consider the matter in a human-anthropomorphic sense and simply makes of Lucifer a kind of inner and Ahriman a kind of outer criminal, there will be difficulty in getting on; for we must not forget that Lucifer, besides being the bringer of evil into the world, the inner evil that arises through the passions, is also the bringer of freedom. Lucifer plays an important role in the universe, and so does Ahriman.

They are not Evil as such, but they are part of the development of Man, and of other spirits just above and below us.

…, I laid particular emphasis on the fact that the progressive gods have assigned to Lucifer and Ahriman roles in the spiritual world; and that discrepancy and disharmony appear only when they bring down their activities into the physical plane and arrogate to themselves rights which are not allotted to them.

Through our fight against these two powers we grow, and we reach Equilibrium, Tao.

Now the root of the whole matter, which must again and again be emphasized, is that the Christ, as Christ, does not belong with the other beings of the physical plane. From the moment of the Baptism in the Jordan, a Being who had not previously existed on Earth, a Being who does not belong to the order of Earth-beings, entered into the corporeality of Jesus of Nazareth. Thus in Christ we are concerned with a Being who could truly say to the disciples: “I am from above, but ye are from below”, which means: “I am a Being of the kingdom of Heaven, ye are of the kingdom of Earth.”

Christ is the emanation of the Son, the Middle Pillar, the Equilibrium of the Left and Right Pillar.

Heavenly and Earthly Triangles at the Time of Christ

He lived through the whole development cycle of man in one life, purifying all the seven bodies as seen in the Tree of Life. That is also the reason why Christ can not be born again like a Bodhisattva, his body is merged with the Earth. When Christ comes again, its a personal experience for each individual when (s)he is ready and not a collective encountering on a global scale.

This means that there are two laws in our nature — that of instinctual self-gratification, which we share with the beasts, though in man, being allied with intellect, this instinct acquires an evil character; and that of the divine nature. When Jesus or any other Teacher, enjoins the law of Love, the Golden Rule, he simply points out the only rule of conduct which is proper for man, if man is to live in accordance with man’s nature. The fact that these wise teachings seem so ineffectual, so much disregarded, should not cause undue despondency or cynicism. They have remained as a lamp for our feet throughout ages of darkness, and are still recognised as our sheet anchor. Whatever failure there may have been in practice, the principle has been maintained. The doctrine of each for himself was not so long ago proclaimed as an economic panacea; but its disastrous results have become apparent. If there are cynical individuals who try to make a gospel out of self-seeking, they are not happy. The man who worships self exclusively cuts himself off from life and enters a path which, if persisted in, would lead to his being isolated with the object of his worship — a fate awful to contemplate.

The message of Christ was revolutionary at that time, changing the tribe mentality of an eye for an eye with the responsibility of the person, love your next as yourself. It started a new evolution in the mind of man introducing the humanitarian thought in mankind. We are now in the critical phase where we will see if we can keep our human integrity in the egocentric climate of todays materialism.

The Thieves

From Wikipedia

Gestas, also spelled Gesmas, is the apocryphal name given to one of the two thieves who was crucified alongside Jesus. According to legend, Gestas taunted Jesus about not saving himself, while Dismas asked for mercy. Dismas was saved, and Gestas was not. Gestas was on the cross to the the left of Jesus and Dismas was on the cross to the right of Jesus.

The apocryphal Arabic Infancy Gospel refers to Gestas and Dismas as Dumachus and Titus, respectively. According to tradition, Dumachus was one of a band of robbers who attacked Saint Joseph and the Holy Family on their Flight into Egypt, as recorded in Jacobus de Voragine‘s “Golden Legend“.

The Rosicrucian Cross is the symbol for the Spiritual Stream started by Christian Rosenkreuz known under the name Rosicrucianism.

The Rosicrucian Cross combines the seven Red Roses, Lotus Flowers or Chakra’s with the Cross we have seen in the Caduceus Staff or the Tree of Life of the Kabbalah. When the Roses Bloom on the cross, the Chakras has been opened. The twelve rays are the influence of the Zodiac as the roses symbolize the planets.

Imagine you see before you a black cross. Let this black cross be for you a symbol for the baser elements that have been cast out of man’s impulses and passions; and at the point where the beams of the cross meet, picture to yourself seven resplendent bright red roses arranged in a circle. Let these roses symbolize for you a blood that is the expression of passions and impulses that have undergone purification.

He who tears the roses from the black cross and has nothing left but the black cross, would fall into the clutches of Ahriman. The black cross in itself represents life when it strives to embrace inanimate matter. Also, if one were to separate the cross from the roses, keeping only the latter, one would nor find the proper thing. For the roses, separate from the cross, tend to elevate us to a life of selfish striving toward the spiritual, but not to a life in which we reveal the spirit in a material world. Not the cross alone, not the roses alone, but the roses on the cross, the cross carrying the roses: That is our proper symbol.

The seven Roses can be combined with the five pointed star of Venus (Lucifer) as used by the Rosicrucian Fellowship:

There exist a third cross with only one Rose:

The Rose represents the female principle while the Cross represents the masculine principle. The same is represented through the sign for Earth, The Universal Androgyne:

Hiram was again conducted to the surface of the earth and as he walked from the scene of his shattered ambition, the conspirators set upon and fatally wounded him; but before he expired, he hid the hammer and disc upon which he had inscribed the Word. This was never found until ages later when Hiram, “the widow’s Son,” was reborn as Lazarus and became the friend and pupil of the Lion of Judah, who raised him from death through initiation. When the hammer was found it had the shape of a CROSS, and the disc had become a ROSE. Therefore Hiram took his place among the immortals under the new and symbolical name

Christian Rosenkreuz.

He founded the Order of Temple-Builders which bears his name; in that Order aspiring souls are still instructed how to fuse the base metals and make the White Stone.

One of the entrances to the temple was decorated with Roses. The Rose connects to Shekinah (Sophia) who has been titled ‘The Rose of the World’, Rosamundi.

‘Thus the Rose is a symbol of Mary because of her motherhood, but in relation to her it belongs to divine things, even as she herself stands on the threshold of Deity, being Spouse of the Divine Spirit and bearer of the Divine word made flesh. So also is the Rose of Shekinah, a Divine Rose, as she whom it typifies is Divine Mother of souls.’

The Rose of Sophia is actually the Holy Grail and Jesus Christ the Hostie.

In The Fraternity of the Rose Cross the connection between the Rosicrucian Rose and the Kabbalah is shown through the Ten petals of the Rose and the Pythagorean Number:

The rose is a yonic symbol associated with generation, fecundity, and purity. The fact that flowers blossom by unfolding has caused them to be chosen as symbolic of spiritual unfoldment. The red color of the rose refers to the blood of Christ, and the golden heart concealed within the midst of the flower corresponds to the spiritual gold concealed within the human nature.

The number of its petals being ten is also a subtle reminder of the perfect Pythagorean number. The rose symbolizes the heart, and the heart has always been accepted by Christians as emblematic of the virtues of love and compassion, as well as of the nature of Christ – the personification of these virtues. The rose as a religious emblem is of great antiquity. It was accepted by the Greeks as the symbol of the sunrise, or of the coming of dawn.

The perfect Pythagorean number ten (tetractys) can be developed by adding the points in a pyramid four high = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10:

First row are Kether, second row are Chokmah and Binah, third row are Chesed, Geburah, and Tiphareth, and fourth row are Netzach, Hod, Yesod, and Malkuth.

The Tree of Life in Rosicrucian Context

Many see Kabbalah as an intellectual game without any relation to the real world, nothing could be more wrong! It’s a description of man, and what is involved in his development. Each Sephira is, of course, a spiritual principle, but for all spiritual principles there are also living beings, and further more, each being is also part of a larger being.

The Tree of Life seen from a Rosicrucian viewpoint: The seven Roses represents the seven lower Sephirots (or Chakras), where the three upper Sephirots are above man, on the other side of the Abyss.

Kabbalah Tree of Life with Rosicrucian names

The three Sephirots of the second Triangle, below the Abyss, are Called “The World Father” or Atma, “The World Mother” or Buddhi, and “The World Son” or Manas by the Rosicrucian’s, which are the higher layers of Man. This can also be seen in this table.

The Tree of Life can also be written with the European Esoteric names for the Sephira:

European Esoteric Names for the Sephira in the Kabbalah Tree of Life

The Ten Sephira corresponds to the Spirit of Love, Harmony, Will, Wisdom, Motion, Form, Personality or Time, Fire, Twilight, and Man.